Who would have thought that the detailed study of whale's ear wax would show important aspects of their physionlogy? Helen Czerski is a consummate storyteller…In places you’ll drift serenely among corals or dense kelp forests, in others you’ll ride Atlantic breakers or fear for your life in a tropical storm…When you resurface, you will be bursting with enthusiasm and wonder and you’ll understand how the ocean works and more besides. While not visible to the naked eye this observation is not unexpected, chiming with land surveys showing increased growth in desert margins. This book reminds us that we are the crew (not passengers) of a blue planet and explains in such beautiful detail how the functioning of those oceans (the blue machine in Helen’s words) is absolutely crucial to the continued health of every life form on the planet. It brings other cultures and their history to the table and gives the reader the chance to see the differences between then and now.

Blending marine biology, history and climate change concerns with novelistic skill, Blue Machine is a spellbinding exploration of the ocean – its complex, interlinked system and the multitude of ways life on the rest of the planet depends on it. Helen Czerski, urging us to see the ocean as a presence, not an absence, has done a remarkable job of shoehorning an overview of the whole shebang into a single, very readable volume. A catastrophe for catastrophists perhaps, but most people would consider more life in the oceans actually a good thing. Helen Czerski's fascinating new book casts the ocean as an extraordinary giant engine, and helps us grasp its complex physicsand its key role in climate change - Graham Lawton, New Scientist You may also be interested in. The author includes huge amounts of information from the way the ocean moves, to the different depths and strata, she mentions how people have learnt to navigate and how humans have impacted it.I haven't actually finished reading this book yet but I am so loving it that I can't hold back from telling everyone! The author of The Blue Machine and Storm in a Teacup, she is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, writing regularly about the physics of everyday life.

She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. In a book that will recalibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. I thought this book was so well laid out and explained and I definitely closed the book at the end knowing I knew more now than I did before.Some of the stories that she uses to illustrate the text are superb, like the ones dealing with underwater acoustic communicaton and how this relates to whales.

Czerski aims to greatly expand and even revolutionise the reader’s understanding of what is going on in seven tenths of the planet that is not covered in land. The world needs a 'David Attenborough for physics' and Helen Czerski is a prime contender - she's brilliant, clear, passionate, modern and inspiring. Alongside her vivid portrayal of waters sliding over one another, colliding, mixing andturning into ice or water vapour, she explains how the living beings within the sea alsoform part of the 'blue machine' .

Reading this book has made me realise just how much the oceans do to keep our planet at the right temperature for life to exist and function.

This is a fascinating book about the ocean and how it shapes our world, how it impacts our lives and how it helps us today.Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. By understanding how the ocean works, and its essential role in our global system, we can learn how to protect our blue machine.